A broadband wireless communication system is based on an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme and an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) scheme, and transmits a physical channel signal using a plurality of subcarriers so as to implement high-speed data transmission.
Downlink data types transmitted from a base station (BS) to a mobile station (MS) can be largely classified into a multicasting/broadcasting data type and a unicast type. The multicasting/broadcasting data type can be used for the BS to transmit system information, configuration information, software update information, etc. to one or more groups including unspecific/specific MSs. The unicast data type may be used for the BS to transmit requested information to a specific MS, or may also be used to transmit a message including information (for example, configuration information) to be transferred only to a specific MS.
As analog broadcast signal transmission comes to an end, various technologies for transmitting/receiving digital broadcast signals are being developed. A digital broadcast signal may include a larger amount of video/audio data than an analog broadcast signal and further include various types of additional data in addition to the video/audio data.
That is, a digital broadcast system can provide HD (high definition) images, multi-channel audio and various additional services. However, data transmission efficiency for transmission of large amounts of data, robustness of transmission/reception networks and network flexibility in consideration of mobile reception equipment need to be improved for digital broadcast.